LBG Attends Tools To Thrive Workshop

Jourdan DeSanctis & Michael Cala of US Foodservice

On August 16th, 2011 Michelle Horan, Director of Operations and Katie Case, Administrative Assistant represented Leverage Buying Group at the Tools To Thrive Workshop, presented by US Foodservice.
The event began with a presentation from Michael Cala, Director of Marketing with US Foodservice focused on marketing to millenials, and the importance of digital media in marketing strategies. Following Michael was Chef Jourdan DeSanctis with information about using unique flavor profiles (like saffron) in new ways.
Lucy Logan, CEO of FoodCALC also spoke to the importance of providing nutritional information on menus. While restaurants with more than 20 locations will soon be required to provide nutritional information on their menus Lucy’s presentation showed that even smaller businesses that are not affected by this requirement can see an increase in profits simply by making their nutritional information available to customers on menus and websites.
Tom Leonardelli, Produce Specialist with US Foodservice gave a presentation on recent trends in produce and how to avoid some of the common mistakes that restaurants make when ordering and using their produce.
The final presentation was from Linda Duke of Duke Marketing. Linda’s presentation focused on new ideas for restaurants to use in marketing such as how to become more customer-centric in marketing and business practices, ideas for marketing to and appealing to the millenial generation, and ideas planning holiday marketing.
Following the seminar attendees had the opportunity to meet with representatives from US Foodservice’s culinary team and from many suppliers whose products can be ordered through US Foodservice. Vendor booths tempted everyone in the room with every variety of sample products – savory (meats, cheeses, veggies, breads), salty (fresh potato chips, french fries, sweet potato fries), and sweet (desserts and fresh)! Representatives were also on hand from suppliers of disposable products like to-go containers, paper products, and gloves.
In addition US Foodservice t-shirts were awarded to those who participated in the Q&A section of Michael Cala’s presentation, and a Linda Duke raffled off a copy of her book “Recipes for Restaurateurs”.

Francisco Jarquin of LBG Member Mas Mexican Food (Roseville, CA)

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